WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 315

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Unable to Call Father "Father"

The military state exploited its citizens. It gave them just enough supplies to survive, plus a little luxury, and made sure they could never even dream beyond that. By overworking its people through fairly coercive methods, the military state stockpiled enormous material wealth.

Still, even a mountain of gold is no different from stones if it only sits in a warehouse.

That giant machine, which treated people like parts and produced absurd wealth, what exactly had it been running so busily for?

"One mystery of the military state. Where did all that wealth go? The answer is right here!"

I said, smacking the Cataphract with both palms.

The military state's strategic weapon, the Cataphract. A rolling fortress wrapped in high-cost alchemic steel from front to back, boasting overwhelming defense, while its simple but innovative design gave it mobility too.

The Cataphract, treated as level-4 strategic material alongside combat clothing packets and war-suits, was the essence of the military state. It had weight and power that easily outclassed armored cavalry. No famous warhorse could ever match a Cataphract in raw force.

Tyr looked around and muttered.

"I have seen something similar. A tyrant of the once-dominant Gold Kingdom rode a luxurious carriage like this. I heard each one required the labor of an entire castle to build, yet she kept dozens."

"The Cataphract is less flashy, but more functional, so the price is probably similar. Maybe even higher, since it's not built for just one person."

"So they drained the people's blood to make such extravagant things. Hmmm. No wonder the nation declined."

Hilde, clearly aggrieved at being painted as someone who could squeeze blood from vampires, protested.

"'I' am innocent! This Cataphract is not 'mine'!"

"Even if it is not yours, you are a general. You can use it as you please."

"That is not true either! The Cataphract is strategic material of the military state, so no one can use it freely! Including 'me,' one of the Six Generals!"

That part was true.

The military state did not allow luxury even to its ruling class, the generals. Even general-grade ceremonial treatment was shabbier than my privately decorated room. Sure, generals could still own property, so if they saved their salaries, they could enjoy whatever luxury existed. But if you have to save up your salary just to indulge, that's already far from normal luxury.

Still, Tyr was herself both a nation and a noble, so it was hard for her to separate the ruling class from the state.

"Yet when you asked for it, they handed it over quickly."

"Because Headquarters approved it!"

"You are saying the same thing in circles. If you can get approval and use it, is it not yours?"

"The difference is huge! If I need Headquarters approval just to move it, then it's not 'mine.' And to begin with, even if 'I,' the Public Safety Chief, request something this flashy, it gets rejected for insufficient cause! This case, giving out a Cataphract just to move a few people, is special!! You are enjoying privileges even 'I' have never enjoyed!"

Hilde bounced in place while insisting how unfair this was. Swept up in the noise, Tyr waved her hand, annoyed.

"I understand enough. Stop jumping. The carriage is shaking."

"What?! Even if a light and fragile girl like 'me' stomps her feet, there's no way this heavy chunk of metal would shake! That's so mean!"

She sounded exactly like a brat whining to the old lady next door. Considering she was talking to the Progenitor of vampires, it looked like she had no sense of self-preservation, yet Tyr still listened, annoyed but listening.

"Fine, fine. I misspoke."

'Well, no wonder they seem like father and daughter. They're both a handful. I should soothe her first. They say if you want to strike a commander, you first take his horse. If she is Hyu's daughter, better to build ties early.'

My daughter? She really believed that?

This person was strange. A vampire who could not doubt human words at all. Hilde said she was my daughter, and Tyr accepted it immediately. Did she not feel anything was off?

Well, I could roughly guess her conclusion. It was probably like humans not doubting livestock. Vampires were human, yes, but also predators that fed on human blood. Even if she got tricked, she could just eat the liar if needed, so she naturally let her guard down.

At this rate, she might get burned one day. No, maybe she already had. But what can you do? You learn by getting hurt. Lessons carved into wounds last the longest.

I was a kind but strict king who protected even the right to be wounded.

"...Wait, Tyrkanzyaka. You're actually believing that ridiculous claim?"

But the regressor tried to take away even Tyr's right to get hurt. With her arms crossed, she pointed out the contradiction.

"I don't know why Yeonggwe calls Hughes 'Father,' but it makes no sense. None at all."

"What does not?"

"Yeonggwe is one of the Six Generals, said to have worked in the shadows since the military state was first created. If she was already active twenty-five years ago, when the state was founded, then even with a generous estimate she has to be at least in her forties."

She fired that off like a detective. Even an elementary schooler could have made that deduction, but it was exactly what Tyr had overlooked.

'Ah, I forgot. I am not good at sensing other people's ages in concrete terms...'

No, she had not overlooked it. She ignored it because it felt too trivial. To a twelfth-century girl, things in the two-digit range were probably a little foreign.

'...Hmm. Let me think. Why does age matter...'

While Tyr hesitated in front of that forbidden truth, the regressor ended up taking away even Tyr's right to wound herself.

"That auntie just made herself look like that with transformation powers, but she's actually much older! Hmph. Calling someone young enough to be your son 'father,' aren't you embarrassed?"

Wow, harsh. Even if it was true, there wasn't an ounce of tact. She was so harsh that even Tyr, standing nearby, took emotional splash damage.

"Wow."

Hilde, hearing herself called auntie to her face, let her mask slip for a moment. She wiped the smile off and glared at the regressor.

"That is harsh. Beyond rude, it's cruel. Really, with such a pretty face, now I see why women don't like you."

"I don't need popularity! I'd refuse it first!"

"Hoo. It's also my fault for taking bait this cheap. This is why I need a mask. If it's not 'me,' I can ignore whatever people babble, but the moment I reveal bare-faced 'me,' I get scratched right away."

Hilde calmed herself quickly, feeding herself suggestions in her head.

"This is truly, truly classified, so I wasn't going to say it. But the slander toward 'me' has gone too far, so I can't stay quiet. Shei, you think 'Eimeder' is the military state's guardian angel, right? And that 'Zikhrund' is an assassin whose identity no one knows."

"...Isn't that true?"

"Wrong. 'Zikhrund' is not 'me.' And likewise, 'Eimeder' is not an angel."

She looked genuinely provoked. No one asked, yet she started spilling things only she knew.

"The People's Hero brought three heroes, 'Zikhrund,' 'Eimeder,' and 'Maximilien.' Zikhrund is an assassin no one has seen, and Eimeder is an angel who protects the military state? No chance. They had to build a new nation from ashes, so who would trust formless faith?"

"Wait. Then that means."

"Yeees. Zikhrund and Eimeder, both are real people. Neither is in the military state now, but the military state seems to want people to believe they still exist. They made 'me' play Zikhrund's role!"

'Maybe they left seats for them, so they could return any time.'

Hilde swallowed only that line.

The Holy Maiden's guard, the Holy Sword Corps. When Yuel was excommunicated from the Sanctum, she surrendered every right and item she had as Holy Maiden, but that power was never taken from her. No, even the Sanctum could not take it.

A Holy Maiden is God's proxy and the executor of prophecy. Excommunicated or run away, every step she takes is still a sacred act ordained by the Celestial God. Two of the most devout in the Holy Sword Corps escorted the excommunicated Holy Maiden and reached the military state.

Those two were Eimeder and Zikhrund. Well, after Yuel secluded herself clutching a man's corpse, they left within a few years.

I could guess why. If it were me, and the Holy Maiden I served locked herself in a room making one ugly scene after another, any attachment I had would dry up fast. I never met her directly, so I didn't know the details, but probably that.

'From 'my' side, dragged in halfway with no warning and made to work at their convenience, it's not a pleasant story at all, though~.'

"Who are they?"

The regressor had gotten unexpected information and listened closely to every word Hilde said.

Tch. I kept feeling this, but for a regressor, she really knew too little. Because of that, even when I went through hell just to peek at her memories, I still couldn't trust them one hundred percent.

She even claimed she had a close relationship with the Sanctum in a previous cycle, yet she didn't know the hidden history between the military state and the Sanctum? It's not like everyone in the Sanctum made a pact to hide it.

'Hmm. Should I stop here? If I say more, our poor Holy Maiden will get into deeper trouble.'

Thinking she had secured enough control, Hilde shut her mouth there. She gave the regressor a smiling look with her eyes, touched her lips with an index finger, and tilted her head.

"I don't want to tell you~."

"What?!"

"Auntie is moody, you know. My mood crashed, so I don't want to talk anymore! Hmph!"

Hilde puffed her cheeks and sharply turned her head. The gesture was so childish that the regressor looked dumbfounded.

"Are you sulking right now? You're not a child."

"If I have to be called auntie, I'd rather be a childish child."

"Fine! You're really getting upset over something tiny. I take it back!"

"Take it back? Can words you've spilled be picked up again? Words are like blades. Pulling out a blade does not heal the wound it made. A wound can only be wrapped with a sincere apology."

In short, she wanted an apology. Hilde stayed stubborn, and the regressor clicked her tongue quietly.

'Yeah. If one bow gets me information, that's cheap! And I did go too far with my words!'

After deciding, the regressor dipped her head slightly and gave a practical apology.

"Sorry. I, well, wasn't sensitive enough."

"Hmph. It is an apology asked for at bladepoint, but I'll accept it. Be careful next time."

"Gnh. Fine."

"That is right, Shei. You must mind your words and actions."

"I'll remember... wait, Tyrkanzyaka? Why are you accepting that apology too?"

She ended up apologizing to two people at once, but mission done, the regressor demanded new information.

"So, where are the real Eimeder and Zikhrund?"

"I don't know!"

"Huh?"

Hilde answered with complete innocence.

"How would 'I' know how my predecessor worked here or where they went after leaving this job? 'I' just got called in midway and worked! Don't forget. Whatever the original Zikhrund was, 'I' only inherited that role!"

"Hey! Then nothing changed!"

The regressor jumped up and pointed at Hilde.

"Either way, you're Yeonggwe, and still older than Hughes!"

"Hehe. Busted."

"Don't 'busted' me! Then what were you denying this whole time!"

"That 'I' am an auntie! I didn't want to be treated like that in front of Father!"

"For Hughes to be your father, Hughes would have had to give birth to you before he was even born! Does that make any sense?"

Of course it didn't.

Anyway, after all that circling around, she finally noticed that causal reversal. I didn't expect the regressor to catch it before Tyr did...

'It is not impossible. If Hyu is that very existence.'

Huh?

That was weird. What thought was I reading right now?

'Everything is explained. That mysterious power, and how he recovered my heart even while losing himself. The beat of a heart that stopped in the far past. In this era, only I know that... but if Hyu is the Human King, if he represents all humans, then he could discover it.'

Tyr trusted people's words strangely well. Not because she was stupid or naive, but because, like an old house lowering its threshold to welcome new guests, she had lowered hers all the way. So in the Abyss she believed all my nonsense, and she nodded along to the regressor's knowledge first too. Of course she also accepted Hilde calling me Father at face value.

'I remember clearly. Back then, that monster whose blood smelled like rust asked Hyu. He asked if you were the Human King.'

Maybe that was why. Tyr didn't show it, but she had kept Maximilien calling me the Human King in her heart this whole time, waiting to use it now.

Good. Since I was the Human King, it meant Tyr's wisdom was shining at this moment.

But then.

'Then it also makes sense for that child to call Hyu Father! If she was born before him, then she must be a child born by the previous Human King!'

Why are you accepting it like that?!

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